CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A massive mural that graced Cleveland's long-gone Lincoln High School hasn't seen the light of day in 35 years.

Two alumni plan to change that.

The quest to resurrect Clevelander William A. Krusoe's "The Spirit of Education" began in 2004, as graduates Janice Lukas and Robert Pearl reminisced about the iconic 1939 oil-on-canvas mural commissioned as part of President Roosevelt's Works Project Administration.

The full-color mural contains interwoven scenes of athletes, artists, scientists, educators and others across a vertical canvas about half the size of a tennis court.

The Class of 1966 lockermates wondered what happened to the mural that filled the school's foyer for four decades until Lincoln was razed in 1977. Pearl and Lukas made a pact to find out.

"Both of us agreed that it would be an atrocity if no one ever got to see something as magnificent as that mural again," Pearl said.

They'd heard a story that before the 3001 Scranton Road building was demolished, Cleveland school officials removed the mural, rolled it up and put it in a storage annex.

Lukas and Pearl assumed that tracking down such a massive piece would be easy. But their sleuthing was stonewalled by the school district.

"They didn't want to talk to us," Pearl said.

Pearl and Lukas canvassed for clues at area schools, universities and libraries. They even sent inquiries to Mayor Frank Jackson, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former senator George Voinovich.

Nobody helped.

"I was hot-potatoed," Lukas said, adding that each person or institution referred her to another.

It wasn't until a call to Cleveland's Intermuseum Conservation Association last year that Pearl and Lukas gained ground.

The story was true. The district did have the mural and was looking to transfer the artwork to ICA for assessment and possible rehab.

Pearl and Lukas were overjoyed, but sobered when they learned it could cost up to $150,000 to restore.

The pair must raise $3,000 just for the nonprofit association to evaluate the giant work. They have raised $500 so far.

"The Spirit of Education" is now rolled into three 12-foot-long sections. A bear hug would barely wrap around each of the tightly-coiled columns. Unrolling the mural would be a task unto itself.

"It looks like this is the biggest WPA mural we're going to end up tangling with," said Heather Galloway, a paintings conservator with ICA.

Toxic residue left from a lead adhesive used to hang the canvases will also make the mural difficult to handle, Galloway said.

Still, she thinks restoring the artwork is worth the effort.

"This is from a very historic period in U.S. history, and the art reflects that," Galloway said. "It's from one of the few periods in the U.S. where public money went to support art. The art was meant to inspire the people."

The mural's restoration will not be government funded, so Pearl and Lukas hope the art inspires the public to donate money to the project.

ICA estimates a complete restoration will cost between $75,000 and $150,000.

Pearl and Lukas hope to see the restored work on display at a large venue such as Cleveland State University, Cleveland Clinic or Medical Mart.

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